File for keeping records



2, Sheets-Sheet, 2.

(No Model.)

D. E. THOMAS. EILE EOE KEEPING RECORDS.

110.518,380. PatentedApr. 17,1894.

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offices where matters as accounts, 85o., re-V i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

vDANIEL E. THOMAS, OE TOLEDO, OHIO.

FILE FOR KEEPING RECORDS.

SPECIFICATION forminglpart of Letters Patent No. 518,380, dated April 17, 1894.

pplication filed ugust 13, 1892. Serial 110.443,004. (No model.)

T0 LZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, DANIEL E. THOMAS, of Toledo, county of Lucas, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Files for Keeping Records; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being h'ad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specioation.

My invention relates to a le for keeping.

records, and has for its object to provide a plurality of record cards of novel arrangement, for coaction with a plurality of calendar cards, having notations for the days of the month, and a plurality of like cards having notations for the months of the year.

The invention further. consists in a file comprising record cards of novel arrangement, and calendar cards for days and months which coact with a gage card when assembled in a le receptacle, whereby a correct record of business transactions present and prospective may be 'compactly kept.

The invention consists in the parts, and colnbination of parts, hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings: Figure l is a front eleva tion of a file receptacle, vstanding upon end, and supplied with a complete set of cards comprising a gage board calendar cards, and indexed record cards. Fig. 2 is a plan View of a record card, showing the supplemental attachable index strip attached to the card in line with one of the letters. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a file cabinet provided with a plurality of file receptacles, this view being drawn on a smaller scale than the other two views.

My invention is particularly adaptable in ceived and entered one day will necessarily demand attention at subsequent periods.

1 designates-a tile box of a preferred construction comprising the bottom board 2, front end board 3, side boards 4, and top board 5, and in order to properly assemble the business records of Van oflice I provide a file cabinet- 6 into which a number of iile re# ceptacles are placed, and properly labeled upon the front end whereby ready reference may be made to a file receptacle containing any particular date desired.

In carrying out the process of recording and indexing, I may employ what I term a gage 7 comprising a card or board having the letters of the alphabet arranged upon the same, preferably upon each outer edge thirteen letters upon each side, this gage being placed upon the top of the file,asl shall hereinafter designate the cards when assembled.

8 designates a record card either plain or provided with the letters ot' the alphabet, preferably arranged with thirteen letters upon each side as shown. The arrangement of the letters however, upon the-record card is unnecessary, When the gage board is employed.

9 designates calendar cards, the body of which are preferably of the same size of the gage board and record cards, with an upper portion 10 extending slightly above the record cards, ,in order to disclose the numerals thereon, which designate each day of the month, that is', there is a calendar card for each day of the month, one of each of the cards having a numeral upon the upper projecting portion to designate a day of the month, and thereis also a set of calendar cards in rear of the cards which designate the days, formed substantially like the same, upon the projecting portion of which is noted the months of the year.

11- designates an attachable strip or tab, upon which is placed the index letters, the tab being preferably formed blank, and with an adhesive inner end by which to secure the same to the record card.

In operation, we will suppose the letters to be omitted from the record card, as shown in the rst two cards in Fig. 1, and that a record of account has been noted upon a record card which records the fact that Brown has a debit account payable on the eighteenth of the month, atab is secured to the record card, and the letters Bro written upon the tab when the card is placed just upon the calendar card having the numeral 18, and so in like manner other record cards are filled out with notations of matter demanding attention at a future date and the tab properly indexed IOO 'aixed to the margin with the initial letter in alignment with the same particular letter on the gage board, the latter always insuring this proper alignment, and also tending to hold the several cards in position, as I prefer to make this card of greater weight than the others. It will be seen that no matter where a record card may be placed among the calendar cards in the tile in order to bring it to attention at a desired date, the tab upon each card will always be in alignment with the letter upon the gage card, which is initial to the name upon the record card, and the latter can be easily found by running down the proper row of tabs and observing the letters thereon.

I may dispense with letters on the gage board, and print the letters of the alphabet upon each record card if desired, as shown 1n the third and fourth cards in Fig. l in which event, the letters serve as a gage by which to secure the indexing tab to the record cards in perfect alignment. I also form the tab of sufficient size to allow of more than one letter, as, for instance, if the record of matter pertains to Brown I may note on the tab Bro The file receptacles are assembled in the cabinet by being labeled with the second, and, if necessary, succeeding letters of the names upon the record cards contained by them. To illustrate, a record card with the name of Brown will be found in the file receptacle labeled R. Should there be more record cards with R for second letter than one le receptacle will hold, two or more may be provided and the record cards distributed among them by a division of the third letter, for instance, if two R receptacles are provided they may be labeled RA to RL and RM to RZ respectively, in which case all names Without regard to initial letters, in which the second letter is R and the third is any letter from A to L inclusive will be in the first R receptacle, and those in which the third letter is any letter from M to Z will be in the second R receptacle. Itis therefore seen that the le receptacleslaheled bythe second and succeeding letters of the names recorded, in combination with the record cards which they contain, indexed by the initial letters of such names, constitute a single index system.

In use, each day, the calendar card for that day is transferred to the rear of the other day calendar cards as soon as that days business is disposed of. This brings to the top of the le the record cards which have been placed upon the calendar card of the succeedlng day.

To dispose of the business of a day, each file receptacle is examined, and the record card or cards appearing uponv the partlcular calendar card of that day are disposed of, and when the business upon a record card is completed the card is removed, thereby d1spensing with the necessity of mixing accounts with those already disposed of, as in the present system ot bookkeeping. p

The monthly cards are for the purpose of arranging the record cards that only demand attention in some month subsequent to the term embraced by day calendar cards., as for inst-ance, if the account of Brown received on the tenth of a current month, as August, and demands attention the 10th of October, the record card is placed upon the October card, and each month the monthly cards are examined, so that when October becomes the current mouth, the card of Brown is placed upon the calendar card bearing the date Tenth.

It will be seen that the gage board is con venient if used to align the tabs, and also as a weight to hold the cards assembled, as Well as a support against which the cards may rest when being examined.

l. An improved record tile, comprising a holder, a series of calendar cards properly arranged, a series of record cards arranged between the calendar cards, and a gage board having the letters marked upon its margin for the purpose set forth.

2. An improved record file comprising in combination a holder, a series of calendar cards properly arranged, a series of record cards arranged between the calendar cards, each record card having its margin marked to indicate the point of attachment of an index tab, and a gage board having the letters marked upon its margin for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereby affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

DANIEL E. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM WEBSTER, CARROLL J. WEBSTER.

IOO 

